


(Un)Wanted

by hybryd0



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M, zianourry - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-07
Updated: 2013-10-07
Packaged: 2017-12-28 18:08:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/994932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hybryd0/pseuds/hybryd0
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>NIall had been getting a lot of hate, but he didn't expect it to get physical.</p>
            </blockquote>





	(Un)Wanted

**Author's Note:**

> I still don't have a beta for this fandom and especially no one to britpick for me, so I apologize for any mistakes I might make.
> 
> Fill for this prompt:
> 
> People are tweeting about Niall, and how he looks and sounds different from the rest of the band, completely bashing him for it. They are creating websites, blogs, tumblr posts, absolutely everything they can do complain about his presence of 1D, saying how he's ugly, fat and just plain wrong in the face of the rest of the band.  
> Niall, after a while, is getting hurt, he emotionally withdraws around the band, letting them take over interview and the stage so the fans are happy. He is losing vital weight (have you seen pics of him in a singlet?) and growing paler and tired.  
> The band i worried and confused, they see him pulling away but don't know what to do.  
> Eventually, Niall goes drinking, and on his way back to the hotel some angry fans recognize him. Nialls outnumbered 10-1 and is attacked.  
> When he stumbles back into the hotel, he just walks past the band, keeping in the shadows, because what do they care?  
> But they see him, bleeding and crying and drag out the story whilst cuddling and bandaging. Drowning him in fluff. If you add in the relationship, Niall could feel they don't feel attracted and only keep him out of pity.
> 
> I didn't really do a good job of working in the OT5 relationship.

It should have been harder to slip security than it was, but where there was a will there was a way and Niall could be sneaky if he had to be. It wasn’t smart to go anywhere without security anymore, but taking any of them with him meant everyone knowing where he was going and he just needed a little alone time with a couple of pints. It was his hope that the bar he had found nearby would be free of fans since no one would be expecting him to pop up in a little dive bar.

The bar wasn't the usual type of place Niall would have visited, but it had beer and a lack of fans. He loved the fans, the real ones, but as of late he'd found it harder and harder to find them. It had always felt like for every hurtful message he'd get on twitter he'd get ten more positive ones, until recently. He'd been getting links to pages that were made just to hate on him specifically, ridiculing everything about him. He'd had to stop following links after one too many nasty surprises.

He used to be able to blow off the hate and focus on the positive, focus on the other boys and how he knew he belonged with them. It became harder and harder to ignore it all when it seemed like a constant barrage, especially when it wasn’t just online. He started seeing more and more signs at shows and there was more than one time fans were friendly to the others, but silent when they came to him. It was getting under his skin in a way that was driving him crazy.

Niall wasn’t a brooder, but that’s what he found himself doing as he downed pint after pint until he realized he’d actually had a couple pints more than he’d planned on. He checked the time and saw it was definitely time for him to be headed back to the hotel before Paul checked rooms. He quickly paid his tab, left the bar, and made his way back toward the hotel with only slightly unsteady steps.

He was within sight of the hotel when Niall heard crying from an alleyway to his right. He stopped immediately and turned toward the sound, squinting down the dark alley. The crying sound came again and he could see someone leaning against the wall.

“Hello? Are you okay?” Niall called out.

The crying continued and Niall realized that it was a girl crying and the nice guy in him was immediately concerned. He headed further into the alley to check on her and it wasn’t until he was within a couple of feet of her that his skin prickled with the feeling of wrong. The girl stopped crying at the same time Niall heard the distinct sound of shoes crunching glass and he looked over his shoulder to see a group of girls and a couple of guys walking up behind him.

“Alright guys?” Niall asked, trying to keep the nervousness out of his voice. In a dark alley with no security was exactly the place he didn’t want to be; Paul was going to kill him.

“We will be,” one of the girls said in a thickly accented voice. Niall’s blood was pumping just a little too hard in his ears for him to place the accent, couldn’t even think to remember what country they were in.

“Would you like me to sign something?” He asked hopefully, but the unfriendly looks they were giving him ramped up the menacing atmosphere and Niall’s fight or flight instincts told him to get the hell out of there.

Niall had turned to face the bigger crowd when they approached, seeing them as the bigger concern, but that proved to be a mistake. It all happened so fast that Niall didn’t have a chance of defending himself; one minute he was calculating if he could outrun them all and the next something smashed against the back of his head. That seemed to be the only opening the group needed to attack and before he could recover they were all over him.

He couldn’t keep track of them all; punching, kicking, scratching. Someone got a good hold of his hair and yanked hard, no doubt tear out a good chunk. A kick to his knee, a well known weakness of his, took him to the ground and then all he could do was curl up to try and defend the most vulnerable parts of him.

It seemed to go on forever before the blows raining down on him ceased and the group seemed to back off. “Perhaps now you will understand you are unwanted.”

Niall hurt in ways he’d never hurt before. His whole body throbbed with his heartbeat and for a long while all he could do was just lay on the ground and try to breathe. Slowly but surely the pain ebbed into something more manageable and he sat up, gasping as his head swam for second and he remembered the impact to the back of his head that had started the whole thing.

Gradually Niall pulled himself together enough to stand up, hissing as he put weight on his knee. It wasn’t the worst it had ever hurt, but he was sure it would be worse later once it really swelled. Groaning at the thought of dragging himself the rest of the way to the hotel, Niall leaned against the alley wall for a little bit, but he knew there was only so long he could put it off for and after a deep, fortifying breath he started off on what was sure to be a long couple of blocks.

xXxX

Liam was worried about Niall; there were so many warning signs not to be. Niall was starting to get quiet in interviews again not to mention Liam had noticed he was eating less. A Niall that wasn’t up for eating everything all the time was a cause for concern in and of itself. 

The piece of “Daddy Direction” that still survived in him was screaming that something was definitely up, but it wasn’t like NIall to be so quiet about whatever it was. The whole group had gotten better about talking to each other about personal troubles and otherwise, but for the most part Niall seemed to be trying to act like everything was normal and from the outside anyone else wouldn’t have thought there was anything going on.

Liam wasn’t the only one who had noticed something off with Niall either, the rest of the boys had noticed as well. There had been several discussions about it, but none of them were sure what to do about it. There had been a few attempts to talk to Niall, but he was extremely good at looking like he was laughing things off and then not talking about them that there wasn’t really much any of them could do.

That was why they were all worried when Paul said that Niall wasn’t in his room like they’d all assumed he was. Immediately everyone had their phones out texting their wayward bandmate. Liam kept his message simple and to the point and at the same time Paul left to send out the security guys as a sort of search team to ferret out the missing Irishman.

where r u??

Without waiting for an answer, Liam hopped up from the bed and started for the door, not surprised when the other boys followed. It was almost like a scene out of a movie; as soon as Liam stepped out of the door and looked to the left he made eye contact with the very person everyone was trying to find. Niall froze like something wild and cornered and Liam had just enough time to see quickly forming dark bruises and blood before Niall seemed to come to himself and dashed for his room.

Liam bolted after him, but the hotel door slammed in his face just before he could think about throwing his body weight into keeping it open. He heard the other boys come up behind him, but he was entirely focused on trying to get to Niall, to find out what had happened to him and just how bad it was.

“Niall, open the bloody door,” Liam called, pounding on the door. When there was no answer he turned to the boys behind him. “Who has Niall’s spare?”

“I do,” Zayn said and then disappeared to go fetch it.

“What’s got your knickers in a twist?” Louis asked.

“Niall’s face looks like he went three rounds with Mike Tyson and lost," Liam said, unable to keep the worry out of his voice.

Zayn returned then with the spare key card for Niall’s room and Liam quickly got it open. Liam's heart leapt into his throat as the first thing he saw was Niall laying face down on the floor with blood staining his hair in such a shocking contrast to the blond of it. Liam swore and rushed into the room, dropping to his knees beside the fallen man.

“Niall,” came two surprised shouts from behind Liam, but he didn’t pay attention to them.

Liam carefully reached out and touched Niall’s shoulder, jerking back in surprise as his friend jolted under his hand and seemed to try and curl into a ball. “It’s okay, love, you’re safe now.”

Niall mumbled something that Liam didn’t understand, but started to push himself up. Liam immediately moved to help him into a sitting position and he was able to once more see some of the damage that had been done to his friend; he had a feeling what he could see was only the tip of the iceberg.

“Someone go find Paul and I need a warm cloth, please,” Liam called out to the other boys.

He heard movement behind him, but he wasn’t sure who left to do what until Louis kneeled down beside him and handed him a warm washcloth. Liam took it with a brief smile at Louis before he carefully started to clean the blood from Niall’s hair, looking for the wound that was somewhere under there. He heard Niall hiss a couple of times as he cleaned him up and was relieved to find that it wasn’t still bleeding.

It only took his second to register that Niall’s body was jerking under his hands and only a second after that to pull his friend into his arms, careful not to hold him too tight as he still wasn’t sure of the extent of the damage done to him. Niall didn’t cry, really cry, that often but he curled into Liam’s arms and sobbed and Liam just held on.

“Shhhh, you’re okay now, just breathe for me,” Liam said soothingly.

“They planned it, Li,” Niall gasped out, choking on his breath as he did.

Something hot and angry twisted in Liams’ belly, but he forced himself to take a deep breath and stay calm for Niall’s sake. “Just breathe, love. I need you to tell me where you’re hurt, okay? Is anything broken?”

“N-No.”

“Are you sure?” 

“M’sure.”

They stayed that way, Liam cuddling Niall carefully, until Paul arrived with a first aid kit and looks that could kill. He took one look at Niall and frowned.

“Right, off to the hospital with you,” their tour manager said.

Niall shook hard in Liam’s arms and buried his face in Liam’s neck. “No.”

“You could have a concussion,” Liam said softly. “Please, just go and get checked out.”

“Go with me?”

“Not letting you out of my sight,” Liam assured him.

Together he and Paul helped Niall stand, bracing him when he stumbled and favored his left knee. Liam felt a flair of rage for whoever had taken a shot at Niall’s biggest weakness; he wanted to strangle someone, but carefully took a deep breath to calm himself down again. Niall needed him calm and steady.

“You lot stay here, no need to attract more attention than we have to,” Paul ordered.

“I’ll keep you updated,” Liam assured the other boys as he helped Niall hobble along.

Paul had a car waiting for them at the kitchen exit and they hurried in as quick as they could without hurting Niall. Once inside Niall settled against Liam’s side and stayed quiet for the whole ride and that was worrying in and of itself; Niall was rarely quiet for that long. His silence continued on into the waiting room and Liam wasn’t sure if it was because he was in pain or if he was trying to avoid talking about what had happened, but they both knew that Niall would have to end up spilling the story.

They had to wait for longer than Liam would have liked before Niall was seen, but the evaluation was quick and it was determined that no serious damage had been done, not even a concussion from the bottle Niall reluctantly admitted was smashed on the back of his head. The cut on the back of his head was treated with some antiseptic, but didn’t require stitches. The worst part was Niall’s back, which was one big bruise; Liam was dying to drag the story of what had happened out of him, but he refrained.

Niall was given some medicine to help with his knee and then they were sent on their way. Liam was more relieved than he let on that all if it looked worse than it actually was. As soon as they were out of the hospital and back in the car Liam shot off a text to Louis to explain everything while Niall cuddled back up to him.

Back at the hotel it was another hustle into the hotel and then back to Niall’s room where the other boys were kicked back on the bed talking quietly when they entered. Liam felt Niall freeze, but made him keep walking until they reached the bed. Liam watched as Louis and Zayn opened their arms to him and Niall almost scrambled to fall into them, though he winced as he put pressure on his knee.

Liam crawled up to sit at Niall’s feet, reaching out to place one comforting hand on his friend’s ankle. “We’ve given you time, but now it’s time to explain what happened.”

“Who do we have to kill?” Louis asked, and Liam could tell by the edge to his voice that he was only half joking.

Niall hesitated briefly before quietly explaining about the influx of hate he’d been receiving and how it had started to get to him. They all shuffled a little closer to him and he seemed to relax even more, his voice a little stronger as he continued his story. Liam was a little upset that Niall had snuck out by himself, but he couldn’t bring himself to stay angry as he listened in horror to what had quite obviously been a planned out attack. That a group of supposed fans had singled out Niall to not only ridicule him, but to physically attack him...Liam just didn’t know what to do with that.

“They couldn’t have been more wrong,” Harry said, leaning over Louis to reach Niall. He pressed a quick kiss to forehead. “You are very wanted.”

Zayn sat up and grasped Liam’s hand gently, pulling him up at the same time he scooted over to make room for Liam to lay down. Liam immediately wrapped his arms around Niall and was rewarded as Niall curled into him, seeming to finally fully relax as if he finally felt completely safe. Liam pressed a kiss to the top of his head and silently vowed that he and the other boys would make sure that Niall never doubted his place with them again and that the so called “fans” that were hating on him understood just how wrong they were.


End file.
